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State prosecutor asks for witness immunity powers

Changes could help efforts to fight public corruption, prosecutor says

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Updated: 5:51 PM EDT Aug 7, 2013

State prosecutor asks for witness immunity powers

Changes could help efforts to fight public corruption, prosecutor says

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Updated: 5:51 PM EDT Aug 7, 2013

ANNAPOLIS, Md. —

Maryland State Prosecutor Emmet Davitt says the Legislature could help the office's efforts to fight public corruption by passing a measure to allow prosecutors to grant immunity to witnesses so their testimony could not be used against them.

Davitt included the comments in a report on his office released Wednesday. Davitt noted that an independent committee chaired by a former Court of Appeals judge recommended the state prosecutor be able to grant "use immunity" to witnesses. But the Legislature has not enacted such a measure yet.

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Davitt also recommends changes to the statute of limitations on campaign finance violations. He writes that a statute of limitations that begins to run only at the end of the election cycle in which a violation occurs would result in more effective enforcement.